8 airports, 6 planes, 4 states, and 1 small set of islands in the North Atlantic

Well…. We’re home!  I know everyone was waiting with bated breath, huh?  Mixed reviews on the vacation.  Seeing the family was great & long overdue.  The traveling part?  Not so much.  Am also regretting the 10 days of uninhibited eating a bit this morning – especially our unplanned but much loved extra 4 days at Gigi’s.  Who regaled us with lemon cream pie and rack of lamb, amongst other delicacies.  Mmmmm.

Lest I singlehandedly depress the US travel market with my tale of horror, please note we were victims of a perfect conflux of bad timing, bad luck, and no experience.  Better known as the Bermuda Triangle (hence the post title).  Traveling ticketless during spring break?  Bad.  Traveling ticketless on any day but Tuesday or Wednesday?  Bad.  Traveling in a pack of 3?  Bad.  Trying to pick up a connection in Chicago?  Bad.  Trying to fly the one plane in the entire fleet that needed a new thingamabob, resulting in a 6 hour mechanical delay?  Bad.  Trying to fly the day after an unnamed airline’s computer system crashed, cancelling 150-odd flights?  BAD.  [We were on a different airline but there was apparently Spillover.]

Anyway, we learned many Important Standby Travel Tips, saw all my CA peeps, got lots (and lots. and LOTS) of people watching in, burned an extra 2 days of vacation I had no use for, and, as a bonus, I did NOT abandon my children in the terminal (temptation aside).

Nor did I smother my husband after he flew in to join us for two days, and shared that not only did he get to sit in the emergency row aisle with acres of leg room (on his direct flight), he also got a warm inflight cookie.  Really. 

First highlight from the trip:
On our way west, random woman walks by, glances at us, stops dead in her tracks, spins around, & starts gushing over my girl.  My two random moms-of-kids-with-DS encounters up till now have been awkward (well, one was the awkward and the other, which should have been my first, was incomplete & eventually abandoned.  Because I suck).  But this was natural, beautiful, and easy.  I don’t really like people.  I was slow to embrace the “members of the club” concept because I’m not a joiner, don’t like cliques, and I don’t like people.  But I knew immediately why she stopped, what we had in common, and we chatted like old friends.  Tragically [for us - assuredly not for her, since this was early in our 16 hr ordeal], she was soon off to Disneyworld with her daughter who is in 1st or 2nd grade (oops! forgot), reading at grade level, inclusive setting, etc.  Guess this is why people go to those DS playgroups & conferences (& blog?!).  Community -  Understanding - Acceptance.  Genius!  

More later, since I only got 4 hours of sleep last night & must toddle off, but in the meantime will smoothly start working in the vaka shots:

Tima & the boy at Steinhart Aquarium/Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park

Brilliantly executed action shot of.... a fin?  A wing?  A partial penguin.

No son, we didn't fly THAT far.  Travel time notwithstanding.